Istanbul; seen through young western eyes: Important links

2c in Istanbul. We had a lot "2c"

In september 2011, the class of 2c from Falkonergårdens Gymnasium & HF-kursus went to Istanbul in search of finding knowledge about Istanbul, Turkey and a muslim society in general. In english and social studies we wrote an essay describing if Turkey should be a member of the EU. This was also something we had in mind when we travelled to Turkey.

"There is no defence line, there is defence of area. This area is all of the home country!"

- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

"Unless a nation's life faces peril, war is murder"

- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

"Peace at home, peace in the world"

- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

"Mankind is a single body and each nation a part of that body"

- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

"I really don't want to portray the Islamists as simply evil, the way it's often done in the west" - Orhan Pamuk

"The secularists in Turkey haven't underestimated religion, they just made the mistake of believing they could control it with the power of the army alone"

- Orhan Pamuk

"For a country to enter the EU, there has to be full respect of minority rights, freedom of thought and expression. If you drag your feet and make cosmetic changes ... then this won't do. To believe that, you would need to be a child"

- Orhan Pamuk

"Thirty thousand Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it"

- Orhan Pamuk

“For a country to enter the EU, there has to be full respect of minority rights, freedom of thought and expression. If you drag your feet and make cosmetic changes ... then this won't do. To believe that, you would need to be a child”

- Orhan Pamuk